VZCZCXRO4716
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0088/01 1160505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260505Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4106
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0703
RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0655
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0569

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 20, 2006 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 20, 
¶2006.  Please note that Turkish press reports often contain 
errors or exaggerations; AmConsulate Adana does not vouch for 
the accuracy of the reports summarized here. 
 
POLITICAL, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Yusuf Akbulut, Priest of Diyarbakir's Mother 
Mary Church, has reportedly received threats from anonymous 
sources.  Sur Municipality Mayor Abdullah Demirtas, DTP 
Diyarbakir administrators and two imams paid a visit to the 
church and condemned the threat incident. 
 
BOLGE:  AKP Adana Provincial Congress will be held on May 6 
in Adana and PM Erdogan will also attend it.  This congress will 
name the new AKP Provincial Chairman.  As the day for the 
congress nears, speculations surfacing about an alleged rivalry 
initiated by reported attempts of Seyhan Mayor Azim Ozturk 
against current provincial chairman Abdullah Dogru, have been 
denied by Ozturk during Ozturk's Monday (04/17) visit to Dogru 
paid at the provincial party building in Adana.  This visit has 
reportedly been a surprise to AKP grassroots in Adana.  A 
reported indirect support has also been extended by Hayati 
Yazici, AKP Deputy National Chairman, to Dogru as well.  Yazici 
reportedly ordered two candidates, one of whom was allegedly 
supported by Ozturk, to come to Ankara immediately. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Return to Villages and Rehabilitation Project 
has reportedly been fruitful in Tunceli, told Muzaffer Arslan, 
secretary general of Special Provincial Authority in Tunceli. 
 
SIPDIS 
Arslan reported amount of money spent and total numbers of 
houses per year that the state built in Tunceli province. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  District branches of political parties in 
Hatay's Iskenderun district made a joint press announcement and 
said that they voiced their disapproval of claims circulating 
about the U.S. which would allegedly shift its navy base in 
Romania to the port in Iskenderun. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The clashes between soldiers and PKK 
terrorists have reportedly been going on in Hakkari's Cukurca 
district around the border area.  Meanwhile, reinforcements have 
reportedly been sent to support military operations going on in 
Siirt's Eruh district.  Meanwhile, PKK claimed that a military 
unit has been ambushed and 6 soldiers have been killed in 
Sirnak's Besta quarter. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     The daily reported that Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) 
has been taking strong measures to counter terrorist entities 
around the border area in Hakkari's Yuksekova, Semdinli and 
Cukurca districts, and Sirnak's districts in the border area. 
TAF has been deploying new military units in those areas. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Relatives of two PKK terrorists, who have 
allegedly not been able to take possession of bodies of the 
terrorists killed on April 12 at Sirnak, have applied to 
Diyarbakir chapter of Human Rights Association and made a press 
announcement.  Former Head of Istanbul University's Forensic 
Medicine Department said that such policy of authorities that 
did not allow the families to take dead bodies of their kin was 
against international laws. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A tent has been set up in Mardin's Kiziltepe 
district to receive people offering condolences to the family of 
a woman terrorist killed on an unspecified date in a military 
operation in Sirnak.  Kiziltepe mayor and DTP Kiziltepe 
administration paid a visit to the family to offer condolences. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Eight out of 9 DTP administrators, who have 
been recently detained in Tunceli, have been arraigned and 
released.  DTP Tunceli provincial chairperson is among persons 
released.  One DTP member has been arrested for keeping 
possession of a false ID card.  Meanwhile, interrogations of 
nine persons who were detained upon tip-off given by a confessor 
have reportedly been continuing. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Three people have been detained in Malatya on 
grounds that they attacked security forces with batons and 
stones, and they damaged businesses at a spot where they held a 
reported violent protest against reported raid of police on 
March 14 at Tunceli Basic Rights and Liberties Association. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A DTP delegation, which attempted to 
ameliorate hostilities going on between two families feuding 
with each other, has been denied entrance with their cars to 
Van's Muradiye district by the soldiers.  The delegation had to 
walk 10 kilometers to get to the district. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   DTP Kars Provincial Chairperson Mahmut Alinak 
 
ADANA 00000088  002 OF 002 
 
 
said that there were lawsuits opened against 5,000 people in 
Kars province on charges of conducting electricity theft. 
Alinak claimed that this situation sharply contrasted with 
"thieves" stealing larger amounts of money from coffers of state 
and receiving no penalties for that. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Human Rights Association, TIHV 
(Turkey's Human Rights Foundation) and Mazlum-Der (Association 
of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People) made a 
joint press announcement and extended support to Diyarbakir 
Mayor Osman Baydemir, against whom Ministry of Internal Affairs 
started an investigation for his remarks uttered during violent 
protests that were going on in Diyarbakir last month. 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES:        Cukurova University Rector Alper Akinoglu made 
a written press announcement and condemned some media circles 
carrying out a campaign targeting President Ahmet Necdet Sezer 
to create bad publicity against him. 
 
EKSPRES:        Authorities announced that 219,285 liters of 
smuggled fuel oil has been seized in a total of 16 operations 
carried out in Mersin last year in the fight against smuggling. 
 
EKSPRES / ZAMAN:        A delegation of TCDD (Turkish Railways 
Authority) has returned to Turkey after holding a meeting with 
Syrian railway authorities in Aleppo between April 10 and 14 to 
solve railway transportation problems between Syria and Turkey. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN:    Kyrgyzstan Minister of Culture, 
who came to Adana for the ongoing theater festival paid a visit 
to the Adana Chamber of Commerce, as well.  The minister stayed 
for two days in Adana. 
 
CUMHURIYET / YENIS SAFAK:       Ministry of Justice reportedly 
favored issuing of a warning to Van Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya 
rather than filing a complaint against him on charges of 
"including unrelated statements in Semdinli indictment" and 
"improperly sending a document to the provincial Jandarma 
Command."  Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors will discuss 
today investigation report created by Ministry of Justice 
inspectors against Sarikaya. 
 
EVRENSEL:       According to the paper Anti-Terror Draft Law will 
prevent the arrest of non-commissioned officers Ali Kaya and 
Ozcan Ildeniz, defendants of November 2005 Semdinli bombing 
case, as they stand trial. 
 
RADIKAL / EVRENSEL:     This year's May Day will reportedly be 
overshadowed by the terrorist developments and demonstrations 
taking place in the southeastern region.  Reportedly, while some 
of the trades and labor unions fear that pro-PKK organizations 
such as DTP will abuse May Day as an opportunity to voice their 
own demands, other unions stated that they do not hold such an 
opinion that political parties will reduce value of labor 
movement and fight for democratic rights and liberties to mere 
political and ideological messages. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Journalists in Hatay staged a march in Antakya 
district and carried a giant Turkish flag to condemn the 
reported recent attacks on the integrity of the country. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Villagers and 14 muhtars (headmen) held a 
protest activity in Batman's Gercus district to voice their 
demands about an international highway project crossing the area 
that has been on local agenda for nearly thirty years. 
REID